Mechanism for feeding sheet metal to punching-machines.



H. LYSHOLIVI.

`MECHANISM FOR FEEDING SHEET METAL T0 PUNCHING MACHINES.

` PPLCATON FILED MR. L 191G- V LQLL Patented Apr. l0, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET i.

H. LYSHOLIVI.

NIECHANlSM FUR FEEDiNG SHEET METAL T0 PUNCHING MACHlNES.

APPLICAHON FILED MAR, zr. 191e.

1,2219881 Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

baarn srarns rar onirica.,

ENRY LYSHOLM, OF WOODBURY, NEUW JERSEY.

MEGHANSM FOR FEEDXNG SHEET METAL'TO PUNCHNG-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern: Be 1t known that l, HENRY Lrsrromr, a

Vcitizen of the United States, and resident of chine or other means forperforming Work uponv the sheet along its lengthT More particularly, myinvention has special utility in' feeding long sheet steel, such as usedin ship building, to the punching machine lfor punching rivet holestherein along its length d transversely to the length, according torequirements; and whereby the manipula tion of the plates may be easilyand accurately accomplished by a single operator.

The general construction ot my invention comprehendsA a long sheet'supporting carriage adapted to run upon tracks or guides in a directiontransversely to the length of the sheet supported thereby and arrangedto have its movements controlled by theJ operator, who preferablystandsor sits upon the carriage and remains in position inv front of thepunching machine, the said carriage provided With means for supportingthe long sheets to be punched and 'feeding the Same longitudinally ofthe carriage and in the direction of their length; further, in anorganized machine of the character above stated, when provided withmanually controlled means for insuring the proper positioning of thesheet under the punching die; and in addition to the above definedfeatures, a further improvement having capacity tor raising and loweringthe sheet in re-z spect to the punching devices under the control ofthe'` operator.

invention also comprehends details of construction which, together with'the fea'- tures above set out, will be better understood by referenceto the drawings, in which z- Figure l is a 'liront elevation of amachine embodying my invention, With portions broken away; Fig. 2 isa-plan ,view of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the sametaken on line fai-m otFig. 2; Figs 4 isa perspective 'viewof a portion.ot' the machine for controllingr the timeof operation Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Apr. 10, i917.

Application filed March 17, 1916. Serial No, 84.775.

ot' the punching machine; Fig. 5 is a sectional vicwot' the punch.stripper and sheet about to be punched; Fig. is an elevation ot amodified construction of my invention; and Fig. T is a sectional view ofa portion of the saine.

2, 2, are guide tracks, respectivel)y at each side ot' the punchingmachine A; and 3, 3,

are additional guide tracks, parallel to the tracks 2, and widely spacedto support the distant portions ot the carriage i., The guide tracks 2,2, are provided with racks 2, which are engaged by teeth S about thesupporting and guide wheels by which the middle porw tion ot thecarriage is sustained. The remaining guide Wheels G are arranged nearthe ends oi the carriage and are groovcd to run upon the guide rails sshown. the

carriage l has i'our ot the guide wheels 7l and `tour of the guideWheels (i, the former by reason oil their teeth engaging the racks.linsuring an equal and uniform movement of both ends of the carriage, andin this Way properly controlling the presentation of the sheet beingpunched to the punching machine. f

T he carriage -l consists of tvvo main girder sections made up of theside gir-ders 4.a and. the connecting bracing parts lb, said sectionsunited by the operators platform 5 providinga gap 5a in the continuityof the carriage for permitting the carriage sections to pass upon eitherside of the punching machine A, as Will be readily understood byreference to Fig. 2. As indicated, a seat 21 is provided upon theplatform for the operator in front oit the punching machine A.

immediately to each side of the punching machine and journaied upon thevsections et of the carrizuge` are shafts 9. each carrying a pluralityof feeding Wheels l2, said shafts and wheels being coupled to rotate inunison by means of the longitudinal shaft l5 and i tent and yieldinglyhold it horizontal. In

this way, a sheet resting upon the Wheels 12 will be supported at aproper height to enter between the dies of the press A and be fedlongitudinally with a. step-by-step inotion to position it each time ahole is to be punched. As the sheets are very long and require moresupport and moreover, as the sheet has, at the start of the punchingoperthe length of each of the sections 4, 4, of the carriage, as isclearly shown.

To insure .more feeding friction upon the plate to be punched, I preferthat the two shafts 9, next to the. punching machine and `on each of thesections of the carriage, shall be niechanically connected so as torotate in unison, and this I accomplish by a chain and sprocket wheeldrive, as shown at 13. In this inanner, the sheet is supported upon thevarious supporting and feed wheels 12 of one section Ll of the carr1age,and by proper manipulation of the lever 1S, may be fed forwardVlongitudinally of its length to positions suitable for punching by-thepress A. As theA sheet 'passes on, its end Will be received upon thesupporting and feed Wheels 12 .upon the other section 4 of the carriage;and finally, when the whole length of the sheet has been punched, itwill have left the Wheels 12 upon which it was first supported and restupon the wheels 12 at the opposite side of lthe press. The extent offeeding of the sheet at any moment is governed. by the distance be#tween the holes to be punched and the manner of determining this will beexplained later on in the specification.

The movements of the carriage upon the guiding tracks to adjust thesheet to be punched transversely to the length of the sheet isaccomplished as follows: Toothed Wheels 7 of veach of the tracks 2, 2,are connected together by a shaft 29 whereby they i are caused to rotatein unison, and said shaft is provided with manually controlled means forrotatingit, said means comprising a y notched wheel 19 loosely journaledupon the 15 and provided with a detent 4device to engage thev notchesofthewheel. This lever 2O may be counterbalanced by a spqriiig20a to Yhold it yieldingly in horizontal position,

similarly to What is yshown in Fig. 3 in' respect to llever 18. In thismanner the operator may impart a rotation to the shaft 29 in eitherdirection and thereby shift the carriage as a-Whole. upon the Vguidetracks when 4through which it passes.

y stripthe p .it is desired to punch a'series of holes in the sheettransversely to the length of the sheet. In this operation, it ismanifest that, as the sheet must be fully shifted back through theoverhang of the press A to insure punching the holes near the edge ofthe sheet nearest the operator, the carriage will have capacity forbeing moved back relatively to the punching machine for a correspondingdistance and will require the opening 5 fioin the rear to receive thepunching machine to permit such operation. Because of thenccessity ofthis break in the continuity of the carriage in the direction of itslength, the platform 5 acts as a joinder of the sections 4, 4f, and isprojected to an extent to give ample strength and space upon which 'toarrange the operative parts for` controlling the, movements oftheycarriage and the sheet feeding mechanism. thereof.

As it is essential that the operator shall control theti-ineof action ofthe punching machine A, a' suitable controlling device therefromlto theoperators platform 5 is provided, and thisadevice may be made in theform sli-own. This mechanism comprises a shaft 30 journaled on theplatform 5 and provided with a' foot treadle 31. This shaft extendsbackward parallel to the rails 2, and is guided in suitable bearings 32on the punching machine base, and may be square in cross section tooperate a trip arm B Any other suitable means for putting the punchingmachine into operation may be employed in lieu of that shown and I donot limit myself in this respect.

1n the foregoingdescription I have re`` ferred lto the means for movingthe sheet -carryingdeviees in a horizontal plane to position the sheetat definite places under' the punching die of the punching machine, andI lwill now describe the means for adjusting the'sheet transversely tothe plane of its surface to insure proper engagement of the punch Withindented portions of the plate surface. Referring to Fig. 5, it will` beseen that the surface of the sheet or plate E is depressed or centerpunched as at F, there being one of these depressions at every intoalinement, as shown. In practice the,

punch C is held in the machine with slight vertical freedom of play s othat it may rest upon the sheet and its point drop into the recess whenthe sheet is properly moved underA it. is the stripper to remove 'orchedfsheet from the punch after l` .spot Where a hole is to be` punched.These l' iso Las-1,8m

the hole has been made and the punch is being withdrawn. To insurecojieration between the sheet and the punch. in positioning the formerto the latter, it is necessary to provide means for raisingand loweringthe sheet. This is accomplished by providing hinged frames in which theshafts 9, 9, next to the jnmching machine are journaled and en'iployingmeans under the control of the operator to move said frames about theirhinges 23 to raise or lower the shafts 9 and their feeding andsupporting wheels 1Q, This means comprises a shaft 2l at each side ofthe platform 5 and respectively journaled in the side frames of the twosections l, et, of the carriage. rThese shafts il have arms 25 whoseouter ends are connected by links QG with thc hinged frames `The shafts2l are each provided with a hand lever 27 for rocking them, said leverhaving a detent to engage the notched segment secured to the platliorm.ln this way the operator may n'ianipulate either hand lever Q7 asdesired to raise or lower the sheet supporting wheels l2 and the sheetcarried thereby; Then the wheels l2 adjacent to the punching machinehave been raised so that the sheet l just supports the punch C,theshafts 2l are locked. Then when the levers 1H and 20 are manipulatedto shift the sheet the conical projection on the bottom of the) punchwill find the depressions F in the sheet when brought to alinement; andwhen this is done, the operator will know the fact by the feeh and hethen presses the treadle 31 and operates the punching machine to drivedown the punch die C. It will be understood that this verticaladjustment of the feeding wheelsl)J and their supporting frames is veryslight and hence may be accomplished without disturbing the operativerelation of the miter gears 1l. llllien the vertical adjustment has beenmade to suit any given thickness of sheet, it may ordinarily bemaintained; but in some cases, at starting to punch the sagn ging end ofa relatively thin sheet, it may be that the sheet will be required to bespecially adjusted as to height at that end and the same requirement maybe equally neces* sary when finishing the punching at the vother end 0fthe sheet, but when the sheet is supported by the guide wheels 'l2 atboth sides of the punching machine at the. same time the verticaladjustment first stated may be wholly relied upon.

Instead'of adjusting the wheels 12 at each side of the punching machinevertically to properly level the plate to cooperate with the punchingdie, the same result may be accomplished as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.' Inthis case, the sections Ll, fl, of the carriage are. hinged at 32 to thesides of the l platform 5C; and the bearings 33 for the supporting andpropelling shaft 29 are eccentric and journaled in thebearings Si of thecarriage sections as will be understood by reference to Fig. T. rl`heeccentric bearings 33 each have an arm 35 which is connected by a link36 with the rocker arm and shaftV 24; shown in the other figures. Thehandles 27a (Fig.

6) may be adjusted to adjust the eccentric, bearings to raise or lowerthe adjacent ends; of the carriage sections l, fl, upon their guide andsupporting wheels 7. The sections 4, 4l,

may be adjusted on all of the supporting wheels 7 in the same manne' andeach sec-Y tion may be adjusted separately, thereby following thegeneral plan of adjustment previously explained.

l do not conlinemyself to the details de-V scribed for imparting thevarious movements to the parts, but have shown and described means whichare excellently suited for the several requirements and they are by wayof example and not as restriction.

It will now be apparent that l have de-r vised a novel and usefulconstruction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated asdesirable, and while lt have in the present instance shoivnA anddescribed the preferred embodiment thereof which has been Jfound inpractice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to beunderstood that I do not restrict myself to the details, 95

as the same are susceptible of modification `in various particularswithout. departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure `by Letters Patent, is

l. A machine for operating upon sheet metal, and a plurality of parallelguide tracks part of which are arranged at one side of the machine andpart at the other side, combined with a unitary carriage havingsupporting wheels guided upon the plo.-

rality of tracks and having a gap atV one side to litaround the machine,a plurality of parallel shafts upon the carriage at each side 13,0

of the machine, a plurality of parallel narrow feeding wheels. securedto each shaft for supporting the sheet to be operated upon, manuallycontrolled means on the carriage for rotating the shafts and wheelswhich are immediately at each side of the machine, and manuallycontrolled means also on the carriage for feeding the carriage along theguide tracks, the-entire operative means for the wheels and shafts andalso forfeeding 1,20

ot' the carriage being upon and moving with the carriage itself.I i h 2.A 4machine for operating upon sheet metal, and a plurality of parallelguide tracks part of which are arranged .at one 12 side of the machineand part at the other side, combined with a carriage having supportingwheels guided upon the plurality of tracks, said carriage having a gapat its side to l'it around the machine', a' plurality'of 13,0

' parallel i shafts-.upon the carriage at each side of Ithe machine, aplurality of .parallel narrow feeding Wheels secured t-o-each shaft `forsupporting the sheet to be operated upon'7 manually controlled means onthe carriage for rotating the shafts and wheels which are immediately ateach side ofthe machine manually controlled means on the carriaO'e forraising and lowering the rotated shafts and wheels which are adjacenttothe machine for adjusting the level 'of the sheet supported by theWheels, and manually con-,f

trolledgmeans on the'carriage for feeding the carriage along the guidetracks, the entire operative means for the .Wheels and shafts and alsofor feeding the carriage being upon and moving with the carriage itself.

` 3. A machine for operating upon sheet metal, and a plurality lofparallel guide tracks part of which are arranged at one rside ofthe\machine and part at the other side, combined with a carriage havingsupporting'wheels guided upon the plurality of tracks, al' plurality ofparallel shafts upon the-carriage at each side of the machine, a`

plurality of feeding Wheels secured to each shaft for supporting thesheet to be operated upon, manually controlled means on the car- 4.riagefor rotating-the shafts and' Wheels which are immediately at each sideofthe machine,' lmanually controlled means for feeding the carriage,along 'the guide tracks,

and Ameans forming a connection between the -carriage and machinewhereby the time of action of' the latter may be under thek control ofthe operator on the carriage.

` 4.' A machine for operating upon sheet vmetal, and a plurality ofparallel guide riage fr rotating .the shafts and wheels whichare-immediately at each side of the machine, manually controlled meansfor feeding the carriage along the guide tracks, manually controlledmeans for raising and lowering the feeding and guide wheels at each sideofthe machine, and an operators platform carried by the carriage infront of the .machine and upon .which all of the vmanuallycontrolledmeansl are grouped so as to be Within easy reach of theoperator withlontmaterially shifting his position.

5. A machine for operating upon sheet metal anda plurality of parallelguide tracks part of 'which are arranged at one 's ide of the machineand part at the other vside, in combination with a carriage supportedand traveling upon said guide tracks and extending on each side of themachine, the carriage having a gap in its side approximately midway ofits length by which it is enabled to straddle the machine, a pluralityof parallel shafts journaled, on the carriageat each side of its gap, aplurality of narrow supporting wheels upon each of` v shafts next to thegap in the carriage while leaving the remaining shafts and their wheelsat the normal level.

6. A machine for operating upon sheet'l meta-1,1' anda 'plurality ofparallel guide tracks part of `which are arranged' at one side of the,machine and part at the other side, combined with a carriage havingsupporting wheels guided upon the plurality of tracks, a plurality ofparallel shafts upon the carriage at each side of the machine, aplurality of feeding wheels secured to'each shaft for supporting thesheet to be operated upon, manually controlled means on the carriage forrotating the shafts and wheels which are immediately at each side of themachine consisting of a shaft longitudinally of the carriage, gearingbetween the said shaft and th-e shafts ofthe manually controlled feedingwheels, a-toothed wheel secured to the longitudinal shaft, and a handlever and detent device. for engaging the toothed wheel for rotating itin either direc tion with a step-by-step motion, and manually controlledmeans for feeding the car-y riage `along the guide tracks.

7; A machine for operating upon sheet metal, and a plurality of parallelguide tracks part of which are arranged at one side of the machine andpart at the other side, combined with a carriage having supportingwheels guided. upon the plurality of tracks, a plurality of parallelshafts upon the carriage at each side of the machine, a plurality offeeding wheels secured to each shaft for supporting the sheet to beoperated upon, manually controlled means on the carriage for rotatingthe shafts andv Wheels which are immediately at each side of themachine, manually controlled means for raising and lowering .the rotatedshafts and Wheels which are adjacent to the machine for adjusting thelevel of the sheet supported by. the wheels, said means consisting ofpivoted arms inwhich the rotatable shaft is journaled, a rocking shaft,connection between the rocking shaft and the pivoted arms,.a stationaryrackp having teeth, and a lever and detentdevice for rocking the rockshaft andholding it in adjusted position,

'and manually controlled vmeans for feeding the carriage along the guidetracks.

8. A machine for operating upon sheet metal, and a plurality of parallelguide tracks part of which are arranged at one side of the machine andpart at the other side, combined with a carriage having supportingwheels guided upon the plurality of tracks, a plurality of parallelshaftsjupon the carriage at each side of the machine, a plurality offeeding wheels secured to each shaft for supporting the sheet to beoperated upon, manually control-ledmeans on the carriage for rotatingthe shafts and wheels which are immediately at each side -of themachine, and manually controlled means for feeding the carriage alongthe guide tracks, said means for feeding` the car- :fiage consisting ofatransverse shaft forrotating the supporting wheels, a notched ywheelconnected -to rotate the rotatable vsha-ft, a'handleverand detent forengagingI the notched Wheel and rotating in either direction with astep-hy-step motion. 9. 'A machine for operating upon Vsheet metal, anda plurality of parallel .guide tracks part of which are arranged. at oneside of the machine and part at the other side, in combination with along carriage structurel extending laterally upon both l sides of themachine and consisting of two girder sections connected by a. platformsection located out of direct alinenient .with the girder sections so asto provide a gap between the two said Sections, supporting and guidewheels for one girder section for sus-,- taining itlupon two of thetracks at one side of the machine, separate supporting" and guidingwheels for the othersectien for supportingjit upon the tracks on theother side of the machine, .feedingdevices upon the two girder sectionsfor feeding asheet of metal longitudinally .in a direction from .onegirder 4section to the other girder sec` tion, and manually controlledmeans-4 extending' tojthe platform forfoperating vbothth'e: feedingmeans, forithe sheetand ,also for, propelling the --two .girder sectionsand plat' .form simultaneously. lalong the guide tmc'lls whereby thsh'etmay be fed transversely'to .the machine andthe carriage structure fed I.to and from'the machine ina direction the carriage.

transversely to the feeding ofthe sheetupon 10. vAI nachine-fforoperatimgv upon sheet metal, anda" plurality oli-parallel guide trackspart of. which are arranged at one s ideof the'machinea'nd part at theother side, in "combination with a long carriage structure extending..laterally' upon both sides'ofthe machine -and consisting of two `girde-rsections connected by a platform sec- 4 .tion located out of directalinement with 65 the girder sections so as to provide a gap tracks'part of which side of the machin-e and part at the other ing means forthe sheet and also forproto the platform foroperating both the feed#pellingthe twoigirder sections and plat-form i simultaneously along thc.guide tracks, whereby the sheet may be'fed transversely Ato the machineandtheucarriage structure,

fed to and from the machine lin a direction transversely 'to the.feeding of the sheet upon the carriage', .and manually controlled meansfor adjustingthe'sheet feeding means vertically whereby the level ofthelsheet in vrespect tothe machine may be 'slightly varied.

IL 'A machine for .operating upon sheet nieta-l, and a plurality ofparallel ,guide tracks'part'of which are arranged at one side 'ofthe'inachine and part -at the'other' side, in. combination with a longcontinuous carriage structure extending upon each side Y of the machineand supported tli'ereat on the guide tracks said carriageihaying a vgapto lit around the machine-'and provided with an operators platform,manually controlledv ing the carriage transversely of vits length upon.the guideft'racks, means-at each side of the-gap of t'he machine'andcarried by the longcarriagefor supporting `a long sheet of 4means at theoperatos' platform for adjust metal, manually controlled'dm'ices on and'niovingwith the carriage and located at the -operators'platform forfeeding the sheet llongitudinally vof the length of the carriage a-crossthe? machine,- and means extending fromrthe operators platform forcontrolling the operation of the machine which operates upon the sheetmetal irrespective of the position of the carriage relatively tothemachine. j'

12. A machinefor operating upon sheet metal, and .a plurality ofvparallel guide are arranged at one side, in combination with a long`carriage structure extending upon each side of the' machine andsupported thereat on the guide tracks said carriage having a gap at itsside to `fit about the machine, manually controlled means for adjustingthe carriage transversely of its length uponv the guide tracks, aplurality of wheels at each side of ythe machine and carried by the longcarriage in fixed bearings for supporting a long sheet of metal,manually controlled devices on the carriage for feeding the sheet longitudinally of the length of the carriage across the machine, andmanually' controlled In testimony of which invention; I hereineans toVary the leveli1 of the heet Where it unto set my hand passes across themac ine sai l means comprising additional feeding Wheels supported HENRYLYSHOLM 5 upon the carriage at each side of' the gap Witnesses;

thereof and, devices for imparting slight R. M. HUNTER, 'verticaladjustments to said. Wheels. FLORENCE DEACON.

Copies of-ths patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Ptents,

` Washington, D. C.

